FOREVER MINE (Hazel Island #1)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Gwen Parker knew the answer before the bank loan officer opened his mouth.

"Unfortunately, Mrs. Parker..."

"Ms.," she corrected automatically. "Parker is my maiden name."

The loan officer shuffled the papers in front of him. "Pardon me. Ms. Parker. Yes, unfortunately, we are not able to extend a loan to you at this time."

Gwen felt heat creep into her cheeks. "May I ask why?"

"Unfortunately," the loan officer said for a third time, making Gwen hate the word, "your credit is not adequate for the bank to feel confident that you will be able to repay a loan of that size. That being said, we may be able to extend an offer of credit to you. Let me see..."

He looked at his computer monitor. "At 17.9% APR."

Gwen had to stifle a laugh. The business loan she'd applied for? The interest was capped at less than half that rate. The last thing she needed was to get a credit card and make her credit worse.

She thanked the loan officer after he did his best to get her to sign up for some other product. As Gwen left the bank, she saw at least three people who looked like they wanted to stop to speak with her. But she ignored them, hoping they wouldn't be offended.

Living on a small island was both a blessing and a curse, Gwen found. Blessing, because it was like living in paradise. A curse, because everybody knew everybody and there were no secrets here. It was as if the gossip grapevine was baked into the very earth itself.

"Gwen! Is that you?"

Gwen looked up, and belatedly realized she'd made eye contact. Now she was well and truly caught. Normally, she didn't mind stopping to chat with people. She was the owner of the local bed and breakfast: it was her job to be personable.

She just wanted to go home and brood. Judy Turner, though, always wanted to talk and was the biggest gossip on Hazel Island. Since her husband had passed away two years ago, she'd had no one to tell her to leave off.

"So nice to see you!" Judy gushed. As she approached, Gwen could smell her perfume, a scent that was a combination of roses and cotton balls. It always made Gwen want to sneeze.

"Hi, Judy. How are you?"

"Oh, you know me. The arthritis in my knee just keeps getting worse every year. I tell my doctor that, but he keeps telling me, 'Judy, if you would go for walks, it would help.' But how am I supposed to walk with a bum knee? Makes no sense."

Judy also tended to complain about her every health issue. Gwen had already heard accounts of pretty much every organ and limb in Judy's body: knees, hip, gallbladder, lungs, and then some.

Gwen realized too late that she was holding the loan documents in her hands, and Judy's eagle-eyed gaze zeroed in on them before she could stash them in her bag.

"Are you buying another building in town?" Judy tried to look more closely at the top piece of paper, but Gwen folded them in half to block her view. "You know, the Wrights are selling that old house down by Terrace Avenue, you know, the one where the kids all go to mess around?"

Gwen hadn't told anyone about her plans to expand the bed and breakfast. She wanted to open a restaurant right next door. After five years of business, Gwen had felt that it was time to push herself to expand the business.

But now that she hadn't gotten the loan, it seemed less likely that this restaurant dream of hers would come to fruition.

"I'm just talking to a few people," hedged Gwen. "Nothing has been decided yet."

Something in Gwen's tone must've had an edge because Judy seemed taken aback. "I didn't mean to pry, dear. You know me. I'm too curious for my own good. Not much else to do since Frank died, you know."

Gwen was about to apologize, but was stopped when a male voice said, "Afternoon, ladies."

"Oh, Jack, how wonderful to see you," said Judy. "How are the salmon? I've heard things have been terrible lately. Do you even catch any? I would imagine your nets are rather empty lately!"

Fortunately for both Gwen and Jack, Judy realized that the bank would close soon, and she hurried inside.

Jack towered over Gwen. When he folded his arms across his chest, she had to stop herself from gaping at the muscles in his tanned forearms.

"If we walk fast, she probably won't catch up to us," said Gwen.

Jack's lips quirked upward in a rare smile. "Are you trying to get away from the old lady?"

"If she asks me one more question, I might lose it entirely."

Jack, being Jack, didn't press Gwen for an explanation. That was something she'd always appreciated about the rugged fisherman. He didn't waste her time.

He was direct, and he didn't try to meddle in her life. They had a friendship based on business and mutual respect. And Gwen was fine with that.

And if she ogled him out of the corner of her eye, what of it? She was human. Nothing was going to happen between them. They'd known each other for five years, and Jack hadn't so much as said something flirtatious to her. Gwen knew she wasn't his type.

Jack seemed to like the girls who didn’t live on the island full time. Any time Gwen had a group of attractive, single ladies at the bed and breakfast, she knew one of them would end up going home with Jack.

It didn’t bother her. Jack could do what he wanted, even if Gwen didn’t understand why he preferred women who didn’t stick around.

Gwen sat down on a bench that overlooked the water. It was one of her favorite spots, especially at sunrise. She liked to come here and meditate before the bed and breakfast opened for the day.

Jack didn't say anything; he didn't even sit next to her. He stood and gazed out at the horizon. Gwen wondered if he'd forgotten she was even there.

"Why were you at the credit union?” Jack glanced at her.

"Is it so odd that I went to the bank?"

"No. But that isn't your bank."

Jack might not be particularly verbose, but he was observant. He'd probably noticed that she would walk to First National—the other bank on the island–every Friday to deposit any cash or checks.

"I'm trying to get a business loan," she replied.

Jack didn't say anything, which only made her want to explain herself more.

"I have an idea, but I need funding. Nothing more complicated than that." She shrugged, making certain that the paperwork from the bank was hidden from Jack's view.

"An idea for what?"

This was where Gwen hesitated. She didn't know why, but she was afraid that talking about her restaurant scheme would somehow jinx it. Or you don't want people to tell you it's a terrible idea.

She'd already gotten her fair share of judgment from her dad and other family and friends about her opening the bed and breakfast. She didn't need a repeat of it.

But Gwen knew that Jack wouldn't judge her. He never had, in all of the years she'd known him. Early on, she'd thought he wasn't even listening to her, he'd been that stoic. But as she'd gotten to know him, she realized that he listened. He just preferred to speak when he felt it was truly necessary.

"I want to open a restaurant next to the bed and breakfast. We've already seen a lot of success with expanding our breakfasts to those who aren't staying at the inn. I think there's a real need for a homey kind of place here. Especially since Sutter's closed down a year ago..."

Gwen sighed because she was getting excited. She knew it was probably foolish to get excited. "But I was denied for a loan. The credit union denied me, too. So I'll have to figure out another way to get funding."

She could ask her brother Elliot, but he and his wife Bekah had a young daughter to think of. Her dad didn't have much in the way of savings, either. And Gwen didn't have any wealthy friends she could go to for a loan.

Jack sat down next to her on the bench. He stretched out his legs and then his arms across the back of the bench, as if he needed to take up as much space as possible. With any other man, Gwen would find that annoying. In Jack, she found it rather endearing.

"Who else have you asked?" said Jack.

"No one. Besides the banks, you're the only other person I've told about this. So please don't tell anyone else."

Jack grunted.

"It's probably a crazy idea, anyway. I know restaurants are one of the hardest businesses to get off the ground. Most fail within five years. The margins are razor-thin. Even if I secured funding, I could just as easily screw this all up."

"You won't screw it up."

Gwen looked up, surprised at the serious note in Jack's voice. He quickly looked away and added, "You haven't screwed up yet with your current business."

"That you know of." She chuckled. "I'm just good at making things look good."

Jack stayed silent, and Gwen wondered what was turning in that brain of his. Despite knowing him for five years, she always felt like she'd never really known him. He had hidden depths to him. Any time she'd tried to get him to talk about his history, he'd skirted the topic. She didn't even know when his birthday was.

"Have you thought about talking to Luke?" said Jack.

Luke was the eldest son of the Wright family, who'd lived on the island for three generations now. They owned multiple businesses in town and had the biggest house on the island. They were one of the few families that lived outside the main part of town, high up on a clifftop that overlooked the ocean.

Everyone knew the Wright family had money. But that didn't mean they were particularly interested in giving it away.

"I don't really know him. I think I've spoken to him five times? Maybe?" Gwen could see Luke's face in her mind, his easygoing smile, but he'd always seemed untouchable to her. The golden boy with privilege dripping from his very pores. He exuded money and class that Gwen couldn't relate to in the slightest.

"I know he wants to invest more in businesses on the island," said Jack.

"You're friends with him, right?"

Jack shrugged. "Of a sort. He likes to tell me things because I don't give a s**t about his money like most people."

"I think that might be one definition of friendship." Gwen smiled.

"I can talk to him for you. See if he'd be interested. Even if he isn't, he'd keep his mouth shut, if that's what worries you."

Gwen's heart squeezed. She'd been so certain that this idea of hers was doomed to fail, but Jack was giving her a potential lifeline. She suddenly felt like she couldn't possibly deserve it.

Then again, Luke Wright would be the one to make the decision. Not Jack.

"If Luke agrees to finance you," continued Jack, "I'll match that amount."

Gwen stared. "You have that kind of money?" was her first reaction. Then she blushed. "I'm sorry. That was rude. That's extremely generous of you—"

"I'm doing it for selfish reasons, too. Another restaurant means another customer for me. I'd want a stake in the business and a guarantee that you'd only buy fish from me." The corner of his mouth quirked up. "Assuming I can deliver, that is."

"It's still generous of you." She was looking at her hands. "I hope you don't think me telling you about this was me asking for money."

"Gwen, look at me."

She did, and his dark brown eyes were totally serious.

"If anyone deserves the money, it's you,” he said.